BRETT McEntagart's latest show at the Solomon Gallery features a small number of oils and a large number of watercolours, all of which - seem well capable of inducing a sensation intense serenity and even, perhaps, deep sleep. McEntagart's pictures are mostly landscapes and seascapes, with the only human presences vague female figures in short dresses, rendered in the style that architects frequently employ to offer a crude suggestion of scale in sketches of prospective buildings.
From the bridges of Kavanagh's Pembrokeshire, to bland views of charming Greek fishing boats, McEntagart is fearless in the exploitation of cliche's. No watery reflection, no tub of plants, no droopy fishing boat is omitted in what looks like the pursuit of the lethally insipid.
Autumn Sunlight, Grand Canal, a large view of a bridge in purples, mauves, oranges and browns, is directed with a focus that occasionally softens into clouds of autumnal pigment, while in "summer holiday" paintings of the Greek Islands, the focus around the bougainvilla filled courtyard is stiff and sharp.
But while McEntagart's style may change a little depending on geographical location, the resulting image always remains firmly in the realm of the commercially picturesque. Presumably the creation of one more large show of placid watercolours which might, without causing much of a stir, have been painted at any time over the last century, points to a significant appetite somewhere. If so, the images are not as tranquil and calming as they at first seem. On the contrary, they may represent something deeply unsettling.
